Listen, "Hang the DJ" is no "San Junipero," but I did enjoy how much depth the female protagonist Amy has — er, at least this AI simulation of her.
This Black Mirror installment imagines a world where a dating app puts people through relationships for varying intervals of time in order to help them find their perfect match. Enter Amy and Frank on an awkward first date. They have instant chemistry, but their time together expires within a fleeting 12 hours. Several bad relationships later, the system sets them up again.
Amy is a subtly feminist character, but feminist nonetheless. She's a rom-com female protagonist who's in tune with her sexual and emotional satisfaction. The episode is not developed through a male gaze — we get many shots of Amy's face in the love scenes throughout the episode that let us know how she is feeling. We're aware that most of the time, she's dissatisfied with the emotionally distant men the dating app pairs her with. Amy's also smart — let us not forget that she cleverly proposes to Frank that they should defy the dating system.
